Kele Okereke Confirms New Bloc Party Album

Bloc Party plan to release their fourth album later this year, frontman Kele Okereke confirmed this morning in an interview with BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe. The British post-punkers have already recorded two new songs, with demos completed for another 17 tracks, Okereke reportedly said. The band went on hiatus starting in September 2009.

Okereke's comments appeared to acknowledge — and express optimism about — the sad likelihood that the moment may have passed for Bloc Party, who debuted to much acclaim with 2005's Silent Alarm. "We can do whatever we want now and people will come to it on its own terms," Okereke told the BBC. "I'm excited about the idea of making rock music again." He also described the upcoming record, Bloc Party's first since 2008's Intimacy, as sounding unlike "anyone else on the planet."

Okereke made his full-length solo debut last year with The Boxer, while guitarist Russell Lissack and bassist Gordon Moakes launched side projects. Lissack previously said the reunited band would be hitting the studio in September of last year.